In the book that bears his name, the prophet Jeremiah warns the people of God to repent of their sin. He pleads with them to forsake their idols and turn back to Jehovah. For years he speaks the word of the Lord, and yet they do not listen. Jeremiah warns them over and over again that if they do not repent, they will go into captivity. Many learned to ignore him; others despised him; but none listened. Then the day finally came. The Babylonians came in, rounded up the people, and carted them off to a foreign land. Buildings were burned to the ground. Many were ruthlessly killed. As a heartbroken Jeremiah watched it all firsthand, he penned the book of Lamentations. If Jeremiah is the book of warning, then Lamentations is the book of mourning.
How would you feel? Just imagine that for years you had warned your people of impending doom, and they refused to listen, only to go into captivity that could have been avoided. The book of Lamentations is Jeremiah’s incredible grief over the captivity of his people. He doesn’t hold back. He shares his feelings. His brokenness, his pain, his anguish, his utter remorse, his deep sorrow.
But in the midst of the saddest book in all the Bible…there is hope. This hope is found in the middle of Lamentations, chapter 3, verses 22-26. Amidst his sorrow, Jeremiah pauses to reflect on God. God has not done anything wrong. He has brought judgment on His rebellious people. Through the tears, Jeremiah is able to write down not one, but five amazing characteristics of God.
Perhaps you’re facing something similar: a hopeless situation, a deep sorrow, an insurmountable obstacle, an incredible difficulty. If that’s the case, this message is for you.
5 Immutable Characteristics of God:
MERCY (v. 22a, 23a)
Jeremiah recognizes that even though his people were going into captivity, God could have wiped them out completely. God was being merciful. Not only that, but Jeremiah recognized that God is merciful to us every day. His mercies are new every morning.
Psalm 103:8, “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.”
Joel 2:13, “And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.”
Mercy is not getting what we deserve, and the truth is, we don’t deserve anything good from the Lord, and yet He blesses us abundantly. In the midst of difficulty, remember that God is merciful.
COMPASSION (v. 22b)
God’s mercy dovetails with His compassion. God’s compassion feeds His mercy. After all, that’s exactly what compassion should do—it should cause you to be merciful.
Psalm 78:38, “But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.”
Micah 7:19, “He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”
Matthew 9:36, “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”
In the midst of difficulty, remember that God is compassionate.
FAITHFULNESS (v. 23b)
God’s faithfulness means that He will not let you down. This also feeds into the others. God is faithful to be merciful. He is faithful to be compassionate. Even when difficulties arise, God is faithful to give needed grace. He will never let you down.
Deuteronomy 7:9, “Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.”
I Corinthians 10:13, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
In the midst of difficulty, remember that God is faithful.
HOPE (v. 24)
The Lord is my portion (inheritance). We don’t belong in this world. Our home is in heaven. We have a heavenly inheritance.
Hope is expectation. God is our hope. God and hope go together so many times in the Bible.
Psalm 39:7, “And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.”
Psalm 147:11, “The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.”
Jeremiah 17:7, “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.”
Romans 15:13, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”
In the midst of difficulty, remember that God is your hope.
GOODNESS (v. 25)
It has been said, “God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.” God can only be good. God can only ever do good.
Psalm 34:8, “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”
Psalm 31:19, “Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!”
Mark 10:18, “And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.”
In the midst of difficulty, remember the goodness of God.
What’s amazing about these five characteristics of God is that they are directly tied to His nature (God is not just merciful, God is mercy). I John 4:16 says, “God is love.” That could be said about all of these.
This is not true of us (we have a sin nature).
Three Decisions we must make in the midst of difficulty:
1. We must choose to HOPE in the Lord (v. 24)
Have you made God your hope? In reality, He is your only hope. Many people choose to make money their hope, doctors their hope, medicine their hope, retirement their hope, good luck their hope, their family their hope, themselves their hope. Everything under the sun but God.
Making God your hope means that you are expecting Him to work. You are expecting Him to keep His promises. You have given the matter to the Lord knowing that it is in good hands. The Lord will take care of it. By doing this, you’ve removed the burden off of your shoulders and given it to God. God can handle it.
2. We must choose to SEEK the Lord (v. 25)
Seeking means you don’t have all the answers. Specifically, you’re seeking God because you want the answer He has for you, you want His perfect will. If you’re seeking God in sincerity, He will not disappoint you.
Jeremiah 29:13, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
Psalm 27:8, “When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.”
3. We must choose to WAIT on the Lord (v. 26)
This is the hard one. It’s hard to wait for something that you want right now. How long will you be waiting? But while you’re waiting, keep seeking and keep hoping. Notice that these three are connected—in verse 25 waiting and seeking are connected, and in verse 26 hoping and waiting are connected. So while you’re waiting, seek the Lord. While you’re waiting, hope in the Lord. Oh, and one more: trust Him!
CONCLUSION
That brings me to my final point. Hoping, seeking, and waiting on the Lord are all useless if we do not trust Him. Faith ties them all together. So the question is, Why is it so hard sometimes to trust God? There could be any number of reasons (give some).
So how can you get back to trusting God? The Bible tells us how. Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. If you are lacking faith, then read your Bible! (explain: faith is a fruit of the Spirit, read your Bible more and more)
When difficulty comes, we tend to focus on ourselves. This is a trap. Don’t wallow in despair, or grief, or sorrow, or pain. You might never get out of that pit. We need to do what Jeremiah did, and remember that we have an amazing God. Get your focus back on God. Choose to trust God over your feelings. God doesn’t change—you can trust Him. In the midst of difficulty, make the difficult decisions. You’ll never regret it.
